Serial number38098

In 1959, the Fender electric guitar line was revamped to include rosewood fretboards attached to one-piece maple necks. Rosewood fretboards were standard on most other brands and were thought to give Fenders space-age oddities a more traditional, classy look. This Strat, with a neck date of 7/59, is one of the rare transition models with combined features of the maple-board and rosewood-board eras.

Like the maple-neck Strats of 58, it has a three-color sunburst finish with a single-ply pickguard (instead of the three-ply guards seen on most rosewood- board Strats). The pickguard has 10 screws instead of the 11 that would soon be seen on the three-ply guards. The fretboard is the thick rosewood slab that would be used until 1962. This guitar is also a non-tremolo hardtail, which makes it even rarerbut not necessarily more desirable.

From Daves notes: After telling me for years that he had this especially rare Stratocaster belonging right in the middle of my collection, my friend Jack Stowe finally brought it up to La Crosse. We made a deal to put it on my wall.